Of the several challenges that ELL students may face at school, one of the most important to remember is that these students not only have the pressure of learning at the same pace of their peers that have most likely spoken English their whole lives, but they have to do so while attempting to understand the English language. Graves' makes a paramount point on page 411 of his text where he states "it is not that English language learners come to school with a language deficit. They come with a lack of knowledge of the particular language that is used in the schools they will be attending-English."1 Therefore, it is easy to assume that even the most ready-to-learn student will have huge amounts of trouble trying to learn everything in a language that is foreign to them.
Aside from these obvious facts, another challenge ELL students may face in school is trying to read fluently in a language that is foreign to them. It is impossible for a student to read in a language that is completely unknown to them. If you tell the student how to pronounce the
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A language barrier tends to "set students apart" from other students. If the entire class but one student speaks English, the whole class will likely avoid or ignore that student because they do not know how to communicate with him/her, or they may have the misconception that the ELL student is "stupid" because they cannot speak English. This is one of the hardships an ELL student may unfortunately have to face at school. Whether or not the ELL student speaks the same language as the other students, body language and unspoken communication makes it very clear whether or not that student is accepted or well-liked by the other students. If the ELL student feels uncomfortable in his/her classroom, he may begin to exhibit learned helplessness and may even refuse to attempt to learn things during the
After viewing the panel discussion about how our local school districts have implemented English Language Learning in their school, I am very intrigued. From what I gathered the field of ELL is a growing industry in education, especially in Colorado Springs. We have ELL’s students coming from all over the world. Here in Colorado Springs alone, school districts have to accommodate for over fifty different languages spoken by ELL’s. I can only imagine the challenge that comes with such a diverse group of non- English speakers in our community schools.
There are several key ideas that are crucial to understanding the best way to teach young, ELL students. The first idea is the importance of recognizing ELL’s feelings of isolation and alienation. When a teacher recognizes this, they are more capable of helping the student feel a part of the class. The student will struggle to participate if they do not feel like they belong with the other students. There is not only a language barrier, but also sociocultural differences that prohibit them from feeling accepted. Tiffany emphasizes the importance of acknowledging this problem and being aware during classroom activities. She suggests that you get a deep understanding of their cultural background, not just a “touristy” one.
Because America is such a diverse country, public schools are faced with the challenge of providing students from all over the world with a quality education. As Chen points out “public schools have embraced the linguistic challenge presented by immigrant students” (¶1). Then, No Child Left Behind law was approved, and it required every public school should have an English Secondary Language (ESL) program that will provide the “academic support” for English Language Learners (ELLs). ELL parents are happy that their children are getting education help from the school, but it has raised the question of how successful are the ESL programs? Do ESL programs provide enough “academic support” to all ELL students? Do ESL programs have enough tools to help students learn English? Some ELL parents complain that ESL programs do not help their child learn English. A successful ESL program is not based solely on the test scores, but also the ability to connect parents, teachers, and students together to strengthen tools that will help ELL students to learn a new language in reading, writing, and speaking.
Despite the high number of ELL students, it is difficult to know, because of lack of data to see what type of educational programs they participate in. According to Prospects, a 1995 national survey, reading and math were taught in programs using bilingual education in less than half of first and third grade classrooms serving limited English proficient students. Offered more frequently were programs where instruction was offered only in English, or where instructional aides, not teachers, were the vehicles for native language instruction.
Also most students are 1st generation Americans. Even though I speak Arabic as well and I am able to understand and help them if they ever need translation we also have to keep in mind that there are a lot of different Arabic dialects. The parents of my ELL students are born in Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen or Palestine.
Teachers who work with English Language Learners know that academic language takes longer to achieve proficiency in than does conversational language. On average, ELL students need at least two years to achieve conversational language and, five to nine years to develop academic language proficiency. Many English words ELL students are exposed to in school, they have not yet learned or even heard in their first language, which makes transference of knowledge impossible. The vast differences in the ability to use conversational versus academic language can be a hindrance to these students and have lasting effects on their academics and therefore, their lives.
As the only kid in my class that couldn't read or write in the same language I was felt out of many activates. The only thing that really helped me was the support of the teachers. They encouraged me to try the best that I could. The only first grader in my class that was illiterate because of the difference in language made me realize that just because we don't understand a different language or culture doesn't mean we are dumb or stupid.
Many school districts have problems placing ELL’s. As a result these students end up in special education whether they have a learning disability or language impairment. Teachers are also indecisive when dealing with ELL’s. Most teachers recommend that ELL’s be placed in special education from day one. It is not because the child has a learning disability, it’s because most teachers are not properly trained to interact with ELL’s.
racie Allen of the comedy team of Burns and Allen was once asked how one should speak French. She replied, “Well, you speak it the same way you speak English; you just use different words.” When trying to assist in instructing English language learners, they usually have many concepts and language abilities that they need to master, as do the teachers that are trying to teach them. With the incorporation of the concepts and approaches to identify and assess the issues and concerns that we have learned in our classroom instruction, such as lesson preparation, building background, and comprehensible input, we can indeed teach our future English language learners all the right moves with all the right words.
English Language Learners range from Newcomers learning survival English and developing foundational literacy skills to Long-Term English Learners who have had 6 years or more of their education in English yet continue have significant language gaps. These students may speak English with little or no accent and still lack the vocabulary, grammar and grade level literacy to be successful in school. English language learners may remain silent in the classroom as they adjust to a new school, environment, and culture unless he is a native language comrade to interact with. The English language learners are concerned about decoding verbal and non- verbal communication as well as understanding the social culture framework of the school. Most of the time English language learners are observing during instruction, trying to repeat words used by others, memorizing simple phrases and sentences, tired by midday or be frustrated attending long lectures unaccompanied by visual and gestures, relying on first language translation used peer translation or bilingual dictionary, as the students begin to learner they become more involved in the classroom, they can respond non-verbally to commands, statements, and questions in simple form. As their oral comprehension increases, they begin to use simple word and phrases and may use English spontaneously. They can understand short conversation on a simple topic when reading students can understand a narrative text and authentic materials, although they will be below
The impact of the language barrier is huge. Neither Jhune or any other person in the school were able to communicate with each other. Jhune would just hear gibberish being spoken by the people in the school. This meant that Jhune could not communicate his feelings to the teachers or the students. It was the other way around too.
Knowledge of the foreign language is important even in understanding what the teachers say in class and when communicating with other people. If a foreign student does not know the language of that country, he will have many problems communicating with other people and understanding the teacher in class. When Riyad came to study in the U.S some years ago he could not understand English language. He had not learnt how to write even his name in English or say it. He only knew Arabic. He thought that he will learn English very fast and continue with his major which was taught in English. His problem started when other Saudi Arabians he had travelled with were given a different hostel from his. No one could understand what he was saying because only few people understood Arabic. He had to use sign language. He could not even use a translator. This disappointed him very much and knew that he would have more problems in class. He had to drop the courses for that semester and take some time to learn Basic English language. An international student will have many problems with learning foreign language like English in America but if they have no confidence, they cannot use even the simplest styles to learn how to speak the basic language from others or from sign language or get help from an international student
My experience with a language barrier was the most difficult, clear and present danger of my first year at an American high school. There was a huge difference between what I expected my experience would be and reality. At my American school, I understood a good amount of what was happening, but hardly everything, because I was not comfortable with the quick tempo that teachers spoke in. To be honest, sitting in my classroom for a lesson for the first time was also the first time I had heard so much English! Every day I found myself guessing my teacher’s meaning about the content or assignments, and when it came time for a group discussion, I was afraid to talk about my opinions because I thought that maybe I spoke weird English.
My observation is in a diverse title I class which allowed for me to experience and gain knowledge not only on ELL students but as well as special education. My interview consisted of a preschool and second grade classroom which help me understand the different milestones and differentiated instruction. When having a language barrier teachers need to not only know their students but check that the student is understanding the lesson. Instead of just asking questions that can make the student feel uncomfortable or different is by planning ahead and having activities where all students participate and answer (Herrell, 2015). When having everyone answer it helps students who don’t like to participate to feel comfortable when it’s their turn to
Teaching students a language that is foreign can really be challenging for students as well as for the teachers. The dynamic rule for implementing instructing in a diverse class to English-learners is to use resourceful life skills such as diligence, hard work and patience. There are also methods that are involved in teaching English as a second language that can be creative for the teacher, yet beneficial to the student. First building a strong foundation that is essential to English learners will promote the language acquisition process. To do this teacher’s should always start with preparation. Advance preparation is essential in order to provide necessary adaptations in content area instruction and to make content information accessible for second language lear...